Good as Gold
Good as Gold was the 50th official episode of Power Rangers Zeo and was the intended season finale, but transmission-wise, and indeed chronologically, the season finale was the Christmas special "A Season to Remember", which takes place in the future and reflects on an incident set earlier in the season. This episode resolves most of the sub-plots begun in "A Zeo Beginning" and "Revelations of Gold", while also opening up new plotlines that went unexplored, leading to a rather notorious sequence of plot holes. Synopsis The Gold Powers are fading fast for Jason as both King Mondo and Lord Zedd greedily pursue him, and they must be returned to Trey before all is lost... including his life. Plot Adam and Tommy are sparring at the Youth Center and start to grow concerned when Jason appears to be running late for his karate class. They turn to Emily in hopes of getting some answers as to where he might be, but she too has not seen him either and is also expecting him to arrive. The two's concern grows, and unbeknownst to them, at least for now, their suspicions and worries are correct. Jason, morphed but weakening because of the Gold Ranger powers' recent effect on him being more serious than previously thought, is on the run from Cogs in the woods. It appears that the power struggle has affected his communicator as well as he is unable to contact Zordon and Alpha or the Rangers, and as he runs, he continues to morph and demorph and is too weak for the moment to fight back. King Mondo and the Royal House of Gadgetry watch from the moon as Jason continues to stumble and run from the Cogs sent after him. It appears that Jason is indeed losing his powers, and Mondo wants to use this opportunity to try and seize them for the Machine Empire's own personal use. And they're not the only ones. As he continues to evade the Cogs, Jason winds up running into both Rita and Lord Zedd, who are also aware of his predicament and want the Gold Ranger powers for themselves. They summon their Tengas to assist them in their mission to seize the powers, just as the Cogs catch up and surround Jason as well. Weak but refusing to give in to either party, Jason braces himself for battle. At the Youth Center, Kat and Tanya show up and are alarmed to hear from Adam and Tommy that Jason still hasn't shown up, and all four of them begin to suspect that it may have something to do with the Gold Ranger powers. Tommy hopes this is not the case, but again, their suspicions are, unfortunately, correct. Back in the woods, Jason continues to stand his ground and brace himself for battle, but he catches a break when Mondo and the House of Gadgetry show up at the scene, and since the two parties are more at odds with each other than they are with the Gold Ranger himself, they wind up taunting each other and become so distracted with each other that each side sets their respective foot soldiers on each other: Tengas vs Cogs. Jason uses this opportunity to escape to a safe haven as both the Cogs and Tengas brutally beat each other to a pulp. Meanwhile, at the Detective Agency, Bulk and Skull are alone once again furnishing up the office and complaining that Det. Stone doesn't trust them enough to let them handle a real case, when all of a sudden they receive a note from a mysterious person by the alias of 'I.K.' who wants them to meet in Angel Grove Park and not be late. The two of them are left wondering whether or not they ought to go. At the Youth Center, the Rangers' suspicions are finally confirmed when Jason rushes into the building, so weak from his predicament that he collapses to the floor. His friends, Ernie and customers all rush over to attend to him and Ernie almost calls an ambulance for help before Tommy assures him that Jason will be fine in the hands of his friends. The battle between the Cogs and Tengas finally ceases and Zedd cunningly and deceptively tells Mondo that perhaps he's the better potential conqueror of the planet after all. He reveals his true motives once he, Rita, Goldar and Rito are out of reach of the House of Gadgetry. He has a plan that should take down the heads of the Machine Empire once and for all. The other Rangers take Jason to the Power Chamber and a scan is run on him, and everyone is forced to face the ugly truth. The Gold Ranger powers, which were never created for a human host on Earth, are indeed fading from Jason and are taking his life energy with them. Tommy has Zordon contact The Treys on Triforia and the three beings of him teleport down to Earth as soon as they get the message. The Treys, still having had no success in reuniting as one being, must find a way to regain the powers before they are lost, along with Jason's life. Zordon tells them that the only known solution to the problem involves a unification beam that must go between Aquitar, Triforia and Earth before striking the Golden Power Staff, and as much of a risk as it is, they have no choice, for Jason's life depends on it. Bulk and Skull decide to go to the park disguised as women and the mysterious person who contacted them discovers them almost immediately. He identifies himself to them as Inspector Kousteau, a government agent from France recruiting detectives for his latest assignment. Bulk and Skull, wanting to prove themselves to Det. Stone as great detectives, almost immediately accept the offer. The four Zeo Rangers teleport with both Jason and the Treys to the desert, where with a map they must find the triangle marker where the process involving the beam must take place. Unfortunately for them, the Machine Empire had intercepted the emergency contact to the Treys before they arrived on Earth, and Mondo sends the Cogs and Quadrafighters down to sabatoge the mission and steal Jason's powers. Jason, with what energy he has left, is able to summon the Golden Power Staff for the beam process. Kat, Adam, Tommy and Tanya morph and spring into action against the Cogs, taking them down one by one and protecting Jason and the Treys at all costs. However, they run into trouble on their way to the marker and Jason is barely able to protect himself or the Treys, having enough energy to barely swing the Golden Power Staff. But thankfully, Zordon has contacted Rocky at martial arts camp, who teleports down (already morphed) to the desert just in time to stop the Cogs from interfering any further. Zordon finally has a reluctant Alpha 5 fire the unification beam and the process begins. Jason and the Treys are successfully able to take their positions in the triangle marker, and to the Rangers' and Jason's delight, the unification process turns out to be a success, as Trey has transformed into a single being again and appears morphed with his powers fully restored, while Jason's health is restored to normal. He hands Trey the Golden Power Staff and the Gold Ranger rushes in to help the other Rangers against the army of Cogs. Rita and Zedd watch nearby as the battle continues, and a giant King Mondo and giant-sized Cogs arrive at the scene. Mondo threatens to end the Power Rangers once and for all, telling them they will regret the day that they'd crossed his path. Before the Rangers can call on their Zords, Trey suggests that it is best to fight fire with fire, and with his Triforian powers, he is able to make himself and the other Zeo Rangers grow to Megazord size and both sides prepare to face of in one last battle. Rita and Zedd continue to watch the battle on the cliffside and Jason watches from the desert ground as it starts, with Zedd commenting that at this rate, both the Rangers and Mondo just might destroy each other, and if this happens, his plan will not even be needed. Tommy initially struggles against King Mondo while the other Rangers take down the remaining Cogs. Tommy is knocked off his feet, but before Mondo can claim victory, Tommy rises again and he and Trey hit Mondo with three blows that knock him down to size (as well as knock off his crown, at least for the moment, as it rolls off his head after he falls down). Both Rita and Zedd laugh as Mondo is taken down by the Rangers. Jason also cheers from the ground and Tommy gives him a thumbs up, saying that they won together. Later on, at the Detective Agency, Bulk and Skull have told Det. Stone of their resignation and that they had accept Kousteau's offer for the mission in France. They thank Stone for the pleasure of working with him, and leave with little to no hesitation. Although he had told the duo to not bother coming back if they left, he comments to himself that "they'll be back" once they have left the room and are out of earshot. Whether the agency folds or stays open is unknown. Meanwhile, up on the moon, Zedd's plan comes to fruition as both the sides of Rita and Zedd and the Machine Empire supposedly call a truce. Zedd, secretly in a form of mockery, says that he and his party are just not in the Machine Empire's league and gives a farewell present to Prince Sprocket. But just seconds after, with fast 'farewells,' they rush into their RV and storm off. And the reason for their rush is revealed when Sprocket opens the 'present' from Zedd and Rita and it turns out to be a bomb that blows all of the Royal House of Gadgetry to pieces and leaves them scattered all over the moon grounds. As Zedd then declares that "We're back," Mondo's decapitated head swears revenge on the lot of them, saying that they haven't heard the last of him and the Machine Empire. Later that day by the shores, Jason sits alone, depressed about no longer being a Ranger and stepping down once again, before Tommy shows up and comforts him. He says that he knows how Jason feels, remembering how he felt when he lost his powers. After a heart-to-heart conversation between the two, Jason spots Emily walking along the shore and the two end up walking off together. Kat shows up, asking if Jason is okay and Tommy assures her that he'll be fine, and that there is more to life than saving the world before the two walk off together hand in hand. Gallery GAG9.jpg|Tommy and Kat as they are shown to be a couple. Cast *Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver (Zeo Ranger V Red) *Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park (Zeo Ranger IV Green) *Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos (Zeo Ranger III Blue) (voice) *Nakia Burrise as Tanya Sloan (Zeo Ranger II Yellow) *Catherine Sutherland as Katherine "Kat" Hillard (Zeo Ranger I Pink) *Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (Gold Zeo Ranger 2) *Tom, Tim, and Ted DiFillippo as Trey of Triforia (Gold Zeo Ranger 1) *Brad Hawkins as Trey (voice) *David Yost as Billy Cranston *Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier *Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch *Gregg Bullock as Detective Jerome Stone *Richard Genelle as Ernie *Lesley Tesh as Emily *David Fielding as Zordon (face) *Bob Manahan as Zordon (voice) *Donene Kistler as Alpha 5 *Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice) *David Stenstrom as King Mondo (voice) *Alex Borstein as Queen Machina (voice) *Barbara Goodson as Prince Sprocket (voice), Orbus (voice), and Rita Repulsa (voice) *Oliver Page as Klank (voice) *Ed Neil as Lord Zedd *Robert Axelrod as Lord Zedd (voice) *Carla Perez as Rita Repulsa *Danny Stallcup as Goldar *Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar (voice) *Bob Papenbrook as Rito Revolto (voice) *??? as Inspector Kousteau Notes *Although this is not the last time Jason appears, this is however his final appearance as the Gold Ranger. *Final Appearance of the Original Power Chamber as from Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie it gets a redesign. *This episode marks the only time in the series where the entire Ranger team grows giant to fight the main villain. **This is the first time that Adam, Rocky and Tanya grow to giant size, and Tommy's and Kat's second since Mighty Morphin's "Green With Evil" and "A Ranger Catastrophe". ***This is also the first time Kat grew giant sized as a Ranger. *First instance of giant footsoldiers, a concept that won't be revisited until Samurai with the Moogers. *Final appearance of Det. Stone's "The Private Eyes Have It" detective agency in Zeo. What happens to the agency and Bulk and Skull's job in Paris is never explained, these plot points being dropped after this episode. However, they go back to the agency (this time without Stone) in several episodes of Turbo, the set for the location being re-used. The in-story explanation is that Stone arranged for them to get their old detective jobs back, this time without him however. *The detective that contacts Bulk and Skull bears similarity to Inspector Clouseau, the bumbling detective from The Pink Panther. *The reason for Bulk and Skull's way of exiting the season is because originally, Power Rangers Zeo was supposed to be the last in the franchise in which they appeared, likely due to their actors preparing for their spinoff show, but that remains unconfirmed. Their whole secret mission in France plot got dropped entirely, however, and they returned for the following two seasons. *This episode marks the final appearance of Rito Revolto. His costume fell apart soon after filming and as a result, the character was dropped. It remains unknown to date why a brand new costume wasn't made. *Final episode appearance of Ernie, though he appears at the end of Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. His departure in Turbo's "Shadow Rangers" is offscreen. *This is the last episode in which Goldar has a speaking role. *While Emily would be absent after this episode, she would make her final appearance in Turbo's "Glyph Hanger". *Final appearance of Jason as a series regular and the Gold Zeo Ranger, although he sticks around long enough to participate in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, he isn't seen again after that until Wild Force's "Forever Red" as the Red Mighty Morphin Ranger once more. *Final appearance of Zeo Rangers II, III, and IV (excluding the cameo in "Legendary Battle"). Kat morphs into Zeo Ranger I briefly for one last time in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, and Zeo Ranger V would appear in Wild Force's "Forever Red ", Tommy's dream in Dino Thunder's "Fighting Spirit", and Ninja Steel's Dimensions in Danger. *Final fighting appearance of the Tenga Warriors, as well as the final use of their fight theme, "Tenga Bye Bye". *This episode marks the first and only time Jason has an encounter with Rita and Zedd's Tengas, though due to his weakened state he was unable to fight them. *Despite retaking the Moon at the conclusion of the episode, Lord Zedd, Rita, Goldar, Finster, and Rito do not make any appearances at all in the following season and are reduced to small guest roles in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie and episodes of Space. They either decided to retire or were asked to stand down by the United Alliance of Evil. *Rocky does not appear unmorphed in this episode (he's said to be at martial arts camp for most of the episode). *This is the final time Rocky fights morphed until Super Megaforce's "Legendary Battle" and ''Super Ninja Steel'''s "Dimensions in Danger". *Trey claims back the Gold Ranger powers in this episode and will appear one last time in Space's "Countdown to Destruction". *This is the final unmorphed appearance of Trey of Triforia. He appears morphed in "Countdown to Destruction" and Super Megaforce's "Legendary Battle". *This is the last time Billy Cranston is mentioned until Dino Thunder's "Legacy of Power". *This is the last episode to feature David Yost, Steve Cardenas, and Austin St. John in the intro. *The final scene shows that Tommy and Kat are still a couple as they are shown holding hands. Song *Calling For a Hero Category:Season Finales Category:Episode Category:Zeo Category:Power Ranger Exclusive Episodes